Photo taken on July 31, 2016 shows the view of Copacabana Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo/Xinhua)
奥运特供：里约旅游小贴士
The dos and don'ts of visiting the Rio Olympics, with a little help from Google
Abilities I should win a medal for: staring into the middle distance. Dithering over a sandwich choice. But above all, getting lost. Usually, I embrace this. I like getting lost in Paris or Venice; Brazil's Olympics 2016 city, not so much.
我在某些方面也很迷糊,比如会盯着远处发呆,会为选择一块三明治而犹豫不决,最糟糕的是经常迷路.通常我觉得这还不错,我喜欢在巴黎或威尼斯迷失方向,但在2016年奥运会主办城市里约迷路,那还是算了吧！
I was last in Rio de Janeiro over a decade ago when First Choice was experimenting with package holidays there.
我上一次到里约还是十年前,那时首选航空正在这里试行团体旅游.
It was quite a short experiment while, as there were, and still are, some great resort hotels around Salvador in the east, the rest of the country wasn't quite ready for package tourism. Especially Rio.
然而试行持续时间很短,因为这里除了东部的萨尔瓦多有些还不错的度假酒店外,其余地方的条件都不足以进行团体旅游.如今,这一情况尚未改变,一切都还照旧.尤其是里约热内卢.
Back then, we were warned against using public transport or going on Copacabana Beach. And the infamous favelas, the slum areas, were totally off-limits. In short, Rio wasn't a place you wanted to get lost in.
那时,有人警告我们不要乘坐公共交通或去科帕卡巴纳海滩玩耍.还有臭名昭著的贫民窟绝对禁止涉足.总而言之,里约热内卢不是个你会想迷路而乱逛的地方.
Now, I can't get lost even if I want to. I have a smartphone, a local SIM card and a phalanx of Googlers guiding my every move as they show off their latest mapping app in one of the cities that needs it most.
现在,我即便是有意为之,也不会再迷路.我拥有一部智能手机,一张当地 SIM卡,一群谷歌用户充当我的向导,因为他们会在极需使用地图软件的城市里,时时分享自己的地理位置.
After hosting the World Cup in 2014, the city is sprinting towards this month's Olympics. You do get the feeling things are a bit behind compared to London 2012 at this stage, but Rio knows how to put on a show. It's a diva of a city, ridiculously beautiful, with life, drama and an unshakable belief that it can set its own rules. It shouldn't work, but generally it seems to.
继2014年主办世界杯之后,这座城市即将在本月迎来奥林匹克运动会.眼下如若与2012年伦敦奥运会相比稍有逊色,但是这座城市却知道如何"搔首弄姿"引人入胜.仿若"天后"之城,这里美得荒谬、生机勃勃、充满戏剧性,有着其坚不可摧的信念, 制定其独具个性的规章制度.按理它不能正常运转,但似乎一切如常.
There are photo ops at every turn, from the Christ the Redeemer statue that towers over it to Copacabana Beach, where the beach volleyball will take place and the cycling ends. Crime is better than it was but seems to be on the rise again, and Rio is teetering financially, having had to be bailed out by central government.
人们可在这座城市的每个角落里举起相机合照,从耸立着的地标救世主基督像到沙滩排球赛举行地及自行车赛终点的科帕卡巴纳海滩.犯罪率比之前降低了,但又有上升迹象.里约的经济摇摇欲坠,不得不倚靠中央政府稳定大局.
